Dedicated to msrudeypants purely because her comments are the funniest...lmao
Chapter 26
Sucker Punched
“RILEY HARPER!!” I hear my name being yelled and then a door slams.
I look up at the watch in the kitchen. It’s four in the afternoon meaning that the boys are home from football practice.
“Sounds like Pete’s mad with you,” Cassie says with a smirk.
I was no secret that when it came to the famous Harper temper, well to put it mildly, Pete was whacked hard with that stick. The thing is that he usually doesn’t get angry with me. It was hard work becoming his favourite.
I’m snapped out of my dream world by Dylan and Cassie making these weird cooing noises and they stare deeply into each others eyes whilst giggled like school girls…. it’s sickening. They have been dating for one week.
Next thing I hear the sound of Pete’s heavy footsteps against the wooden floorboards of the stairs. Shit.
Pete stands in the doorway looking red faced and stern. His jaw line is all tensed up and his eyes have that hellish fury glinting behind them.
“Hey Petie. How was your day? Want a sammich?”
I say this with as sweet a tone as I can muster. I even use the full on sheepish smile and puppy dog eyes.
“Any idea why my team is getting into fist fights over you?” Pete asks me with this steely voice that is practically dancing on the edge of shouting. Damn…even tempting the beast with food didn’t work.
“Which members. I seem to have a lot of grudges with all of them.” I admit reluctantly.
“Well. I was running to receive a pass as was scheduled in my play when suddenly I look behind me and Ryan is tackling Seth. The idiot actually ripped off Seth’s helmet and punched him. Matt goes to pull of Ryan and I get Seth. Then Ryan says something to Matt and the next thing both Matt and Ryan are going at Seth. Meanwhile Seth is just sitting there taking it. When I asked for explanation later in the locker room all I got was a mumble that I should ask you as you should be the one to tell me. So here I am. Asking you. Now answer,”
Pete looks exasperated and downright annoyed.
“Ummm. I might have an answer as to why Matt punched Seth. However Ryan’s reason is a mystery to me,” I say truthfully.
Matt is like a brother to me so he probably punched Seth because of the whole cheating debacle.
“Well…” Cassie interjects curiously. She needs to learn to keep her nose in her own damned business.
“Seth cheated on me…with Selena,” I say calmly. I have nothing or hide as I did nothing wrong.
“WHAT!! THAT ASSHOLE. RYAN WAS RIGHT…HE IS A CHEATING BASTARD,” Pete rages. He is full on yelling now and his face is comparable to a strawberry.
“Calm down,” I chide, “it’s all sorted out.”
Pete paces up and down for a few seconds until he manages to restrain his anger. His breathing is still heavy but at least his face is back to normal.
“Why the hell didn’t you tell us Riles,” Dylan says. I’m pretty sure that he is voicing all of their minds.
“I don’t know. I sorted it out. We figured that we were better off just friends and he and Selena have a good thing going. I didn’t expect Matt and Ryan to go all agro on him. I haven’t even taken to Ryan in the last month.” I explain.
“I should have known. I would have pounded him not protected him,” Pete says in almost a growl.
I roll my eyes. It’s not his sworn duty to protect my innocence. I can actually handle myself thank you very much. I ain’t no damsel in distress.
“Pete. It’s over. You can make him run extra laps tomorrow or something if you must. Just let the violence go,” I say in my hippy voice.
“How are you so clam about this?,” Cassie asks, “ I would have been too angry to function.”
“Actually…” How do I mention that this made me reconnect with the mother whom I had initially blamed for every thing? Just then a (freshly showered) Will choses to enter the room with Emma slung over his shoulder. Dan also comes in. Both of them wonder over to the stove to see what mom cooked.
“Yes?” Cassie says suspiciously.
“I had a talk with mom. It really out things into perspective.”
I hear the clutter of spoons being dropped back into pans and the collective gasps. I can feel all six pairs of eyes glued onto me. It’s one of those awkward and soul-suppressing silences. No one knows what to say. They never thought they would see the day I forgave my mother. Everyone is either in a state of disbelief, shock or skepticism.
The room is deadly silent and no one knows how to break the silence. It sits upon us thickly like fog on a moor.
Just then Cassie yells out desperately,” We’re getting married.”
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Well Cassie’s attempt to break the silence obviously did not go as planned rather it had left us all sucker-punched.
I don’t know what goes through that girls head sometimes. Did she honestly expect us to rush around her and Dylan granting them well-wishes and giving them our congratulations.
The five of us sit there in silence giving each other knowing glances…none of us wanting to be the first to speak and therefore start the huge argument about to commence.
Will speaks up first.
“I asked the wrong sibling to teach me how to throw a curveball.” Typical Will…has to ease up the tension. Why is it so difficult for him to remain serious in a somber situation?
“Hush now Will,” I chide him. Yes, I can be motherly if the situation calls for it.
Amazingly it is Emma who asks the first logical question.
“Do mom and dad know?” She queries.
“Well…we were going to tell everyone this evening,” Dylan says.
“How did this happen,” Pete manages to spit out. Right now he looks like he is simply in disbelief.
For a split-second I wonder why everyone looks so confused. Then it hits me. They don’t know about the fact that Cassie and Dylan not only made-up but made-out…in this exact spot of the kitchen counter to be exact.
With that lovely though in my mind I slowly slide further to the right of the counter. I am not sure if that area has been disinfected yet.
“Well, after Riley caught Dylan and I…ummm…well….you know,” Cassie starts. Great…all eyes are on me again. She just had to bring up that I was hiding something else from all of them. Secrecy is not really part of the Harper sibling ethos and I will probably get some form of punishment at a later stage.
“We made-out,” Dylan supplies happily.
I am so grateful that he said that as my brother’s gazes have now been diverted from me to him. Oh if my brothers’ eyes could shoot out lasers Dylan would so be charcoal right now.
“Yeah. That. Well we talked it out. We realised that we still have feelings for each other. Today Dylan dropped the bombshell on me. As you know in order to complete his medical degree Dylan has to complete two years of internship at a government hospital. This June Dylan will be moving to South Africa to complete his internship at a hospital there,” Cassie says and looks to Dylan.
Dylan seems to understand what this glance means as he immediately picks up where she left of.
“South African public hospitals are terribly understaffed. At the government hospitals there you get to treat things as an intern that you wouldn’t get to treat over here. This is an incredible opportunity for me. I was the only one in my university given this chance. In South Africa these are known as Zuma-years. They will allow me to complete my degree at a much quicker rate,” Dylan says explaining what this whole thing was.
“Dylan was about to turn down the opportunity when I caught him on the phone and told his lecturer that he will accept,” Cassie turns her head to look into Dylan’s eyes. Great, now they are being all mushy and stuff.
“I didn’t want to leave you just as I was given the chance to win you back,” Dylan says softly to Cassie- making us feel as if we were intruding on their moment.
“Anyway. We decided that we did not want to be apart. And since I am writing the bar this year, I decided that going to South Africa would be a great opportunity to practice criminal law. However, since I am only a student I would not be accepted for a visa. So in order to get in and maintain my relationship with Dylan as well as further my career we decided to get married. If I am married to Dylan I automatically get a visa to go and work in South Africa,” Cassie says explaining the final part of her story.
“Cassie. I completely understand wanting to further your career but, are you two sure that you are ready to get married? You have only been dating for a week,” I state. I hate being Debbie-Downer but, someone had to bring back the voice of reason.
“We dated for four years before this,” Cassie justifies.
“And you didn’t see each other for another four. People can change in four years. How do you know that you will still love each other? You are both completely different from the people you were in high school,” Dan points out joining Team Reasonable.
“Dan. I can’t explain it. The first time I ever saw your sister I fell in love. I was too young to understand it then. When I saw her again after she just woke up last week Saturday, with her hair all messy and her eyes all sleepy, I instantly knew that this was the girl was destined to marry,” Dylan says with conviction in his eyes. He looks down at Cassie and kisses the top of her head.
“I can’t explain it. I know that we are being irrational and stupid but, it just feels right with Dylan. This is the path of my life that I was always meant to take. If he were going to stay around longer we would have done the conventional thing and dated, had the long engagement and planned the wedding in more than five months but, however much we wanted it, we weren’t given that chance. This is was we were destined to do,” Cassie finishes.
Not one of us has it in us to argue with her. What she was doing was very daft and ridiculous. She was literally throwing caution to the wind.
However, after seeing her with Dylan every instinct in my body tells me that what she is doing is right. These two were always going to be together. Whether in ten years or one week they were going to get married. We might as well let the cards fall where they may.
“Well, Dylan, now you just have to tell our dad that your taking away his little girl,” Dan says with a knowing smirk.
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We were all called into a family meeting that evening.
Our parents were seated in their usual eats in the den when Cassie and Dylan proceeded to stand up and repeat the same tale they told us earliar.
At first our parents were shocked and disappointed at Cassie. After Cassie pointed out that she was twenty-two, clever and not a slut they eased up a tiny bit, Enough to see her point of view.
Our parents gad a lot of faith in Cassie’s ability to make decisions. She was, ironically, the most cautious of our siblings. This was the first spontaneous thing Cassie has ever done in her life. She obviously was the go big or go home type of person.
After about an hour of convincing, yelling, crying and begging my mother got up and congratulated them. She had those weird instincts and fortune-teller-like gut feeling instantly bestowed upon all mothers. If she had a good feeling about this then I doubted that this wasn’t meant to happen. My father obviously agreed with me on this as he then, rather reluctantly, got up and gave the happy couple his blessings.
Cassie and Dylan were elated. They were both those perfect children that wouldn’t get married without their parents’ approval. It was arranged that they would be taking a trip to visit Dylan’s parents and ask for their blessings this weekend.
My parents were going as well to show their support of the union. They also were family friends with the Roberts and felt like this was the ideal time to get re-acquainted- with their children about to get joined in holy matrimony and everything.
If the Roberts agreed the wedding would be in late September thereby giving us only five months to plan it.
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I crept into Cassie’s bedroom late that night. She and Dylan were traditional and wouldn’t sleep together until they were married. I slipped into her bed and hugged her from the back. I began to cry into her back.
“What’s wrong Riley-pie?” She said adopting Dylan’s nickname for me. I knew she was awake. She was probably too excited to sleep.
“I’m just really happy for you,” I lie.
“I know you probably are but, why don’t you tell me the truth?” She turns to face me.
“How’d you know?” I say wiping the tears from my cheeks.
“Big sister knows everything,” she says with a smile bringing me closer into her.
“I just realised that in five months you’ll be leaving. I won’t see you everyday. The six Harpers will be split,” I tell her.
“I know my Riley. I know,” She says soothingly whilst stroking my head.
“Dylan’s the best. And I am truly happy for you but, I’ll miss you so much. How am I meant to deal without my big sister? Who will be there to make me girly and help me get ready for dates?” I sob out now. I am going to miss her omnipresence in the house. She was my mother when mom was drunk. She was there for me in all my most important memories. Now she’ll be gone, over eighteen hours away living her life and leaving me here.
“I will still be there. The internet exists for a reason,” Cassie jokes, “Besides it is only for two years. I will be back before you know it. The you will wish I was gone again.”
I laugh. I can’t help it. It’s like those moments when you are so upset that the tiniest thing can set you off in a laughter you don’t really mean.
“See. I will only be phone call, text, skype, facebook message and many others away, you can reach me at anytime,” She says.
“How do you feel?” I ask her whilst rolling out of her grasp and next to her. She was going through every girls dream. She was engaged to her high-school sweetheart and the guy of her dreams.
“In love,” She says simply.
“About the engagement silly. About swearing to spend the rest of your life with someone.”
“I feel excited. I feel like a part of me is about to be complete. Oddly, I don’t feel scared. I know this was always meant to be happen. I am doing this for the right reasons,” she says,” And most of all I feel content. I just feel so happy and fulfilled. He is the only person who makes me feel this happy and complete. I am honored to swear the rest of my life to him. No one will ever have my heart the way Dylan does.”
Cassie turns to me with a massive grin on her face. She looks ecstatic.
I look at her a smile whilst chuckling softly at her expression. She joins me. We just sit there for a few more minutes.
I start to feel myself dozing off so I lean over and place a kiss on Cassie’s forehead before getting out of her bed.
“Riley, I am going to miss you guys more than my heart can handle. However, this is what I need to do. He’s the one. I don’t doubt that he would be faithful if I stayed behind but, I can’t handle not being there with him when he goes through this. That’s how I know that we are ready to spend our lives together. I put him above everyone else even after everything. I am willing to forget about my pain to be there for him. However, I will always love you guys and will miss you constantly,” Cassie says.
I retreat and sit back down on the edge of her bed. I give her this looks and she knows that I want her to explain.
“I needed to tell you that. I need you know what love feels like. So no one can ever hurt you like Seth did,” Cassie says.
“Seth was different. I realised that I never loved him, I just assumed that I could grow to love him if I tried. Looking back I see that it was wrong. You can’t force yourself to love someone by only seeing his or her perfections. Love is accepting all of that person. I forced myself to overlook Seth’s ego, I forced myself to forget that he can be a trouble-maker. I elevated him to the status of perfection in order to make myself attracted to him. It was stupid and wrong. Selena and Seth are attracted to each other. They might actually have something real rather day dreams,” I rant out to Cassie.
She looks at and smiles at me knowingly.
“ I wondered how long it would take you to figure that out,” she says.
“Actually Mom made me see that. Are you telling me that you also knew what I was doing?”
“You would go one about how perfect he was. It always seemed like you were forcing it. I knew what you were doing,” Cassie confirmed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I demand.
“You needed to learn this the heard way. You can’t use someone to try and avoid your feelings for someone else,” Cassie says.
Now I am genuinely confused.
“What are you talking about Cass?” I enquire.
“You’ll figure it out. You are a smart girl. Now go to bed. We’ll talk more in the morning.”
I get up and walk out the door and return to my room. I get to my room and think about what Cassie said. Suddenly it clicks.
I rush to my cupboard and grab my dad’s old cardigan- that somehow winded up in my closet- and throw it over my pajama top. I change my sleep shorts for a pair of jeans and slip on my ugg boots. I grab my car keys and run out of the house. I don’t even care to sneak out.
I can’t think about getting into trouble now…I need to do this before it is too late.
Author's Note: PLEASE READ!!!
People have been confused as to how long Riley and Seth dated. This was a mistake on my part which i did go and correct. They have been dating for two months.
Also, i apologise for taking two months two update. I was focusing on my finals which i did quite well on. I needed to inorder to bring my mark up. I am really sorry and will be working on updates throughout my vacation to make it up to you. Chapter 27 is almost done.
I did stay up till 1am finishing this. So please show the chapter some love and vote.
Wuv chu
LostBandGirl